INNSBRUCK 3 - 9 OLIMPIJA
SHARKS BITE BACK WITH FEISTY 2ND PERIOD BUT DRAGONS SANDWICH THAT WITH GOALS GALORE
3RD AND 4TH LINES KICK THINGS OFF BEFORE 1ST AND 2ND TAKE IT HOME
Imgflip.com
Lineup changes
Horák starts. Mašič is absent, so Halbert, Gregorc and Ćosić all shift up one. Mehle remains on line 1 with Sabla out.
Stars of the game
* Marly Quince (2G) - Sparked the team in P1 with two goals and was unlucky to not end up with a hat-trick, thanks to a fiery 3rd line performance alongside a revitalised Nik Simšič and a blazing Rok Kapel.
** Evan Polei (2G) - Choo-choo! Polei was hitting like a freight train all evening and making things generally very unpleasant for the Innsbruck defenders and goalie. He also scored two goals!!
*** Zach Boychuk (G, SHG) - Boychuk took the baton that the 3rd and 4th line passed on and kicked off our monster 3rd period with an exquisite shorthanded goal.
Goals
P1:
OLL - It goes Kapel, Simšič, Quince as the 3rd line move together to score.
OLL - Kapel's high effort creates Quince's next goal, going Kapel, Simšič, Quince once more! It's HCI 0 - 2 3rd line at the moment!
OLL - Sodja scores on a breakaway! So happy to see him put one in, as he has had a few of these in recent seasons but often seems to get thwarted.
HCI - PPG off a back post rebound. Penalty was for too many men on the ice, which is a bad one to give up.
P2:
OLL - Brennan walks the blue line and his point shot gets deflected in by Polei. Halbert secondary assist.
HCI - HCI gain access to our DZ far too easily and a great shot goes in. Bohinc was unfortunately in no man's land here. A learning moment!
HCI - A breakaway rush chance is foiled, but the rebound gets put in by the next man there. Two goals in 59s and very lackadaisical defence from Olimpija.
P3:
OLL - Boychuk scores a shorthanded goal out of nowhere!! What a way to spark the team and regain some breathing space in the scoreline. It's a huge reset as he beats the young goalie's blocker. Gregorc and Kirichenko get assists.
OLL - Brennan tees up Meyer for a one-timer that flies in.
OLL - Mahkovec with a beauty of an assist around the net for a grateful Petan in front.
OLL - Mahkovec again to Polei, this time, at the back post.
OLL - Boychuk easily beats the now-very-defeated goalie. Assists from Meyer and Gregorc.
What I liked to see:
- The 3rd line clicking. Nik Simšič and Rok Kapel looked like men reborn tonight, operating on the wings of Marly Quince. Kapel was playing with such urgency and Simšič looked so smooth in possession. They served Quince up chance after chance, which allowed us to go up 2-0 on the back of this line alone. They epitomised Coach Cooper's apparent emphasis on interlinking the three forwards in each line with as much synchronisation as possible (basically, making them play really well off the back of each other). Although I still think Mehle should replace Simšič on the 3rd line, this was pleasing to see. We all love the 4th line and have seen the alternating success of the 1st and 2nd, but the 3rd seemed quite lacklustre thus far this season. They must have triple-high-fived before the game and exclaimed "No more!".
- I love a shorthanded goal - they are such a spear to the heart of the opposing team.
- The sheer amount of scoring on offer was astounding. It felt like we could have had 12+ goals tonight, which is another testament to Coach Cooper's influence. The way we were retaining possession in the OZ and creating chances off the back of that was a delight to behold. It's really hard to play well offensively, as we've seen over the past two seasons, but Coach Cooper and the team are making it look easy.
- I enjoyed Halbert's P2-3 period break interview. He summarised Coach Cooper's approach, saying that 'we want to control the game and play it in their zone'. He then went on to do his best Letterkenny/Shoresy impression with 'we've got to get pucks deep' etc. This is a very Canadian British man 😂
- Talking of interviews, I also appreciated how polished Boychuk was in front of the camera. This is a former NHLer who has his own podcast (Athlete & Artist Show), so it's not a massive surprise, but I felt proud to watch him speak so well in our colours. Is that weird? Ah well, too late!
What I would like to see:
- It's a bit silly to critique a monster win like this, but this section exists, so I'll be pedantic. I would like to see us 'play the full 60 minutes', in the sense that we really let HCI back into the game in the 2nd period, which ended with us 4-3 up. Better teams will be able to take advantage of those lulls, so we need to keep working on eliminating them as much as we can. In particular here, these were sloppy DZ exits which kept giving HCI unnecessary chances. You can't argue with 9 goals, though!
- No more 'too many men' penalties.
Final thoughts:
As the Geto Boys sang in 1992, "Damn it feels good to be a gangsta". Damn, it feels good to be an offensive juggernaut in the ICE League! I never thought I'd see the day, yet here we are - top of the league and blasting off into the stratosphere in Goal Difference! Take a moment to enjoy this return to Gretzky-era hockey that we are witnessing.
OLIMPIJA 3 - 2 FEHERVAR (PENS)
OLIMPIJA OFFENSE STYMIED AS FEHERVAR RETURN TO DEFENSIVE LOCKDOWN FORM OF OLD
LAST GASP WIN FOR THE DRAGONS AS SABLA, BOYCHUK AND HORÁK STAND TALL
Imgflip.com
OLL fans during P3, OT and penalties:
From Detroit: Become Human, a game I recommend! Available at: https://aminoapps.com/c/detroitbecomhumanofficial/page/blog/cute-connor-stuff-and-a-meme/0Kop_eqCkuKa51BEXakke65zKJzbDLB40p
Lineup changes
Sabla is back in the team and on the top line after an injury layoff. Mehle goes out as a result. Bukovec comes in for an injured Sodja. Ćosić is ill. Crnović and Mašič return, too.
Stars of the game
* Robert Sabolič - the captain returned and delivered in the 'biggest of spots', to quote Dan Hanzus (of Around the NFL and Heed the Call podcast fame). He provided the equaliser in the 3rd period, when we desperately needed a goal, as well as scoring a key penalty in the shootout.
** Lukaš Horák - shootout hero #1, locking down the last five (!) AVS penalties after conceding the first two.
*** Zach Boychuk - shootout hero #2, scoring his first and being sent back out to successfully claim the victory, which was sealed by a Horák save.
Goals
P2:
OLL - Goal Meyer, assisted by Boychuk and Sabolič. In Pečo's words: "BURGER, BURGER, BURGER!". OLL open the scoring with a Smash Attack goal, sending fans into a free burger frenzy. It's a pretty enormous error from the AVS defender, who turns it over under pressure from Boychuk right into the path of Meyer. Meyer feints a shot but passes to the open Boychuk, inhabiting the space from whence the defender came. Boychuk hits the post first-time, but it sneaks around Reijola for Meyer to hit home.
AVS - 23s later, Fehervar storm down the middle and beat Horak's glove. After all that effort to break their defences, we're back to square one almost immediately.
AVS - Horak is screened on a point shot through traffic and it sails in.
P3:
OLL - With 5:39 remaining, goal Sabolič, assisted by Brennan. Sabla's goal represents the apex of order and chaos in our existence. The first shot attempt off TJ's pass in front of net is snatched at, flying up into the air. Chaos reigns, the groans are shimmering in fans' throats. Mid-air, Sabla thwacks it into the top corner. Order is restored, the angels applaud and the pre-groans turn into cries of elation.
PENS:
Meyer - Blocker save
Sabla - Backhand score
Boychuk - 5-hole score
Brennan - Glove save
Mahkovec - Blocker save
Petan - Post
Boychuk - Wide angle score!
Horak went goal, goal, save, save, save, save, save. 1st goal was a beaten blocker attempt and 2nd was wide angle and shot on the left, which multiple Fehervar players tried. Maybe they had something on Horak in the pre-scouting?
What I liked to see:
This was Fehervar at their finest, initiating the kind of lockdown which any pandemic-era government would be proud of. And yet - I still think how close the game was is more to do with us than them. Our crisp passing from tape to tape deserted us. Our bodies looked a beat too slow to cleanly execute what our minds envisioned. And yet - we still won the game.
What do we learn from this? That we can dig deep and survive in games where we are firmly on the back foot. This is one to keep in the mental locker, in the file "never give up". Sometimes this kind of win is more valuable in the long term than another 7-2 pounding.
Sabla's return was immensely important in this win. I still have reservations about him as Captain, for a variety of reasons, but this was a Captain's performance. Equalising when scoring seemed impossible and deftly tucking away his penalty is something we should all salute him for.
Zach Boychuk making a key impact was nice to see. He's been doing a lot of good things without being mega flashy, but tonight we got some mega flashy moments under the spotlight of penalties. Well-deserved applause for 89!
What I would like to see:
- A return to our slick offense that scythes through opponents. I need to keep learning about hockey tactics to get that highest-level analysis going, but as I said above, I think this was more about us being a bit 'off' this game, rather than Fehervar doing anything more than returning to their form of last year.
- I'm not suggesting the team does anything other than try their best, but I would really like to see us try not to concede goals right after we've scored. It was such a gut-punch to immediately concede after working so hard for the first goal.
Final thoughts:
Fehervar's identity as a defensive lockdown team is certainly not dead yet, despite a mid-week 9-4 loss to G99 that lulled me into a false sense of security. Rasmus Reijola is still the 2nd best goalie in the league, behind Horák of course. Fehervar will be kicking themselves but we should be wiping the sweat off our brows having survived by the skin of our teeth, as we say in English. Overall, this is a hard-fought win in a game that we could have easily lost, which will teach us a lot for the future. Well done!
No comments:
Post a Comment